As a lot of you know, my family and I have adopted from China before, and we are really close to other families who have done the same thing. I read this on a message board from our agency, and as they said, I'm sharing it on the blogs and facebooks. Stories like these really make my heart cry out to these kids because it's not their fault. They're thrown into situations like this, and have to sit and wish for a better life, now knowing that dad and mom (or step dad/mom) don't love them enough to live with them.
This story is copied and pasted verbatim, from the Holt Website, and here's a direct link for those more interested in other adoption stories: Holt
Zhi Needs a Family
By Ashli Keyser, Managing Editor
From China. Date of Birth: August 15th, 1997
The beginning……
In 2005, *Zhi and his father went for a drive. They drove for miles and miles and finally stopped at a bus station. Zhi’s father scribbled his son’s name and birthday on a piece of paper, handed the paper to Zhi, said goodbye and walked away. That would be the last time Zhi would ever see his father. He was six years old.
After failed attempts to locate Zhi’s father, the police officers took Zhi to an orphanage. He was said to be in “good spirits” and quickly adapted to his new surroundings.
Today, at eleven years old, Zhi needs a permanent family. He sees many of his friends go home to families and gets discouraged that no one ever comes for him.
Thankfully, though, Zhi has a little help.
In February of this year, Chris Zhen, Holt’s Guangzhou program assistant for the Journey of Hope program, arrived from China to the Holt headquarters in Eugene, Oregon. Here for a 6-month internship, Chris came to work with the China staff in Eugene. He came to experience the United States….and he arrived with a mission.
“I promised myself that I would try to find Zhi a family,” said Chris, who befriended the shy but precocious 11-year-old boy through his work with the Journey of Hope program.
In an interview last year, Zhi told Chris and his social workers why his father abandoned him on that fateful day five years ago.
After his parents divorced and his mother left, Zhi’s father remarried. “My stepmother decided she didn’t want me anymore,” said Zhi. And so, Zhi’s father made the decision to let him go.
Zhi now lives at a private school. His teachers adore him. “He is able to take care of his daily needs,” they say. “He has set up good living habits for himself and is able to keep things in order. He sticks to his goals and shows respect to others.” Zhi’s favorite subjects are English and Chinese. He enjoys playing basketball and flying remote control airplanes. He wants to be a pilot someday.
“I want to go to the USA when I see my friends going there with their families,” said Zhi in an interview with Chris a couple weeks ago. “I miss them and I want to keep in touch with them.”
When asked what kind of family he might like to have, Zhi’s shy side comes out a little.
“A family who will love you forever will be OK?” asks Chris. Zhi simply responds, “Yes.” When Chris asks Zhi if he would like to share anything else, Zhi just says, “jin kuai,” which means “as soon as possible (to find a family).”
Zhi has experienced his fair share of loss. I think about how wonderful it will be to see him go home to a family someday. A family who will never walk away from him. Zhi understands that a family might be out there for him, and he is eager to meet them.
In the future, I hope to share Zhi’s family story on the blog or in the magazine. Who knows? Maybe one day, 15 or so years from now, Zhi will even write his own adoption story for the magazine…….
The story of a boy abandoned at a bus station, but whose story didn’t end there.
The story of a boy who grows up to be a pilot, remembering the days he flew remote control planes at the orphanage in China.
The story of a boy who goes from playing basketball on the boarding school playground, to high-fiving his friends after making the game winning basket in the championship game.
The story of a boy who went from abandoned and alone, to loved and embraced. From China to America….. and into the arms of a loving family.
Help turn Zhi’s dream into a reality. Share his story on Facebook and on your blogs.
Learn more about Zhi, here
Or contact Erin Mower at erinm@holtinternational.org for more information.
*named changed
This story is copied and pasted verbatim, from the Holt Website, and here's a direct link for those more interested in other adoption stories: Holt
Zhi Needs a Family
By Ashli Keyser, Managing Editor
From China. Date of Birth: August 15th, 1997
The beginning……
In 2005, *Zhi and his father went for a drive. They drove for miles and miles and finally stopped at a bus station. Zhi’s father scribbled his son’s name and birthday on a piece of paper, handed the paper to Zhi, said goodbye and walked away. That would be the last time Zhi would ever see his father. He was six years old.
After failed attempts to locate Zhi’s father, the police officers took Zhi to an orphanage. He was said to be in “good spirits” and quickly adapted to his new surroundings.
Today, at eleven years old, Zhi needs a permanent family. He sees many of his friends go home to families and gets discouraged that no one ever comes for him.
Thankfully, though, Zhi has a little help.
In February of this year, Chris Zhen, Holt’s Guangzhou program assistant for the Journey of Hope program, arrived from China to the Holt headquarters in Eugene, Oregon. Here for a 6-month internship, Chris came to work with the China staff in Eugene. He came to experience the United States….and he arrived with a mission.
“I promised myself that I would try to find Zhi a family,” said Chris, who befriended the shy but precocious 11-year-old boy through his work with the Journey of Hope program.
In an interview last year, Zhi told Chris and his social workers why his father abandoned him on that fateful day five years ago.
After his parents divorced and his mother left, Zhi’s father remarried. “My stepmother decided she didn’t want me anymore,” said Zhi. And so, Zhi’s father made the decision to let him go.
Zhi now lives at a private school. His teachers adore him. “He is able to take care of his daily needs,” they say. “He has set up good living habits for himself and is able to keep things in order. He sticks to his goals and shows respect to others.” Zhi’s favorite subjects are English and Chinese. He enjoys playing basketball and flying remote control airplanes. He wants to be a pilot someday.
“I want to go to the USA when I see my friends going there with their families,” said Zhi in an interview with Chris a couple weeks ago. “I miss them and I want to keep in touch with them.”
When asked what kind of family he might like to have, Zhi’s shy side comes out a little.
“A family who will love you forever will be OK?” asks Chris. Zhi simply responds, “Yes.” When Chris asks Zhi if he would like to share anything else, Zhi just says, “jin kuai,” which means “as soon as possible (to find a family).”
Zhi has experienced his fair share of loss. I think about how wonderful it will be to see him go home to a family someday. A family who will never walk away from him. Zhi understands that a family might be out there for him, and he is eager to meet them.
In the future, I hope to share Zhi’s family story on the blog or in the magazine. Who knows? Maybe one day, 15 or so years from now, Zhi will even write his own adoption story for the magazine…….
The story of a boy abandoned at a bus station, but whose story didn’t end there.
The story of a boy who grows up to be a pilot, remembering the days he flew remote control planes at the orphanage in China.
The story of a boy who goes from playing basketball on the boarding school playground, to high-fiving his friends after making the game winning basket in the championship game.
The story of a boy who went from abandoned and alone, to loved and embraced. From China to America….. and into the arms of a loving family.
Help turn Zhi’s dream into a reality. Share his story on Facebook and on your blogs.
Learn more about Zhi, here
Or contact Erin Mower at erinm@holtinternational.org for more information.
*named changed
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